Railroad box cars have been in use for many years transporting a wide variety of cargo. Box cars are recognized as being primarily useful when the cargo can be loaded directly in the car from a siding adjacent its production without any prior shipping involving substantial labor in loading and unloading the goods, as from a truck. The same applies at the shipping destination.
In recent years it has been found increasingly efficient to ship cargo in large containers by sea, railroad and highway. Shipping in this manner avoids unpacking the cargo between the time the container is packed by the shipper and received by the customer thereby avoiding extra labor, breakage, and theft in handling and reducing delivery time. These benefits are realized because the containers are sized and shaped to be carried by highway trucks and trailers, special railroad cars and container carrying ships.
One type of railroad car which is particularly suitable for carrying containers is referred to as a well car. Such a car has side and end walls and a partial or full floor thereby defining a well or recessed space into which one or more containers can be longitudinally positioned. The container sides are generally at least two to three times higher than the depth of the well space. Additionally, the containers can be double stacked when desired to increase the shipping load.
Well cars of the described type suitable for carrying containers, and also highway trailers, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,091,742; 4,400,121; and 4,456,413.
To support a container in the well space, horizontal flanges or ledges are positioned along the bottom portions of the side walls so as to extend inwardly toward the car center. The lower side corners of the containers rest on these flanges or ledges and receive most of the container load. It has been found that container supports of the described type, which are usually fabricated of welded elements, bend and fail in use if the container lengths are such that the loads are applied other than to the corners of the well. A need accordingly exists for an improved support system for containers in well cars.